Your roof is an asset—an asset that protects your building and everything and everyone in it. So it’s important to get a high quality, environmentally friendly roof system for the lowest annualized cost. There is a new environmentally focused certification for roofing professionals to help building owners make informed decisions about their roofs. The certification
is the RoofPoint Registered Professional (RRP) program.

BACKGROUND

The RRP program adds to the suite of information from the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Environmental Innovation in Roofing (Center) and complements the RoofPoint certification program and its RoofPoint Guideline for Environmentally Innovative Nonresidential Roofing. In addition to the RoofPoint Guideline and certification program, the suite of information
includes the RoofPoint 2012 Energy and Carbon Calculator, the Center/PIMA Roof and Wall Thermal Design Guide, the Center/Spray Foam Coalition Spray Polyurethane Design Guidance document, and guideline documents from the Center’s PV Taskforce about racking and attachment criteria for integration of PV on low- and steep-slope roof systems. The RRP’s focus is to be fluent in the RoofPoint Guideline, however. (More information about RoofPoint and the Center is available in the May/June issue of this magazine, page 34.)

The Meridian Vineyards roof restoration in Paso Robles, Calif., was submitted by D.C. TaylorCo. and achieved a 17 within RoofPoint, as well as a 2011 RoofPoint Excellence in DesignAward for Excellence in Materials Management.

RRP PROGRAM

The RRP program is intended to provide individual certification for roofing professionals who are designing, specifying, constructing or managing sustainable roof installations certified under the RoofPoint Guideline. The RoofPoint project certification program was started several years ago and has certified hundreds of the most sustainable and environmentally friendly roof installations across the U.S. and North America.

Because many of the sustainable concepts in RoofPoint are likely new to many building owners seeking guidance in the selection of sustainable roofs, the RRP program provides an important link between the ultimate roofing customer—the building owner—and the green-building community, similar to the relationship between the LEED rating system and the LEED AP professional designation.

“RoofPoint Registered Professionals represent a dedicated group of professionals in the roofing industry who make contributions every day to sustainable construction and whose work helps to showcase the critical role roofs play in mitigating the impact buildings have on our environment,” says Center President Craig Silvertooth.

As ambassadors for RoofPoint, RRPs provide services to building owners, facility managers and other building designers interested in achieving the RoofPoint designation for their projects.

CERTIFICATION AND AWARDS

As a building owner, requesting a “RoofPoint roof” in an RFP for a new roof system accelerates the process of ensuring the design and installation of a sustainable roof system. Working directly with RoofPoint Registered Professionals can guarantee the installation of a sustainable roof. RRPs, because they understand the RoofPoint program and process, are capable of self-certifying a new roof as a RoofPoint roof.

A key feature to the RoofPoint program is acknowledgement of the excellent work done by every member of the project team with certificates or awards for the building owner, facility manager, architect or roof consultant, the general contractor, subcontractors and suppliers. Certificates can be awarded to the team as part of a formal or informal presentation.

“I recently had the opportunity to attend a reception sponsored by a charter member of the RRP program in Denver,” notes Jim Hoff, vice president of Research for the Center. “At the reception, we were able to recognize every member of the building team involved in a number of RoofPoint projects for the General Services Administration in Denver. In addition to the GSA’s chief roofing manager, we were able to recognize the roofing contractor, roof system manufacturer, and a number of key service and support organizations that made these award-winning roofing systems possible. RoofPoint and the RRP program really helped to acknowledge everyone involved in these outstanding projects.”

Honda Headquarters,Clermont, Fla., scored a 22within RoofPoint for TectaAmerica and was recognized with a 2011 RoofPoint Excellence in Design Award, Honorable Mention for Excellence in Water Management.

Furthering the marketing opportunity, a RoofPoint-certified roof is eligible for the Excellence in Design Awards (EDAs). EDAs are given annually to the best RoofPoint projects. The EDA categories include energy, water, material and life-cycle/durability management; global, community, private sector and public sector leadership; excellence in reroofing; and advanced sustainable roofing.

RRP IMPORTANCE

An RRP understands the RoofPoint Guideline and can identify the many ways current roofing systems provide economic value and protect the environment. An RRP will wade through the myriad roof system choices to establish design, installation and maintenance criteria for the selection of sustainable roof systems. An RRP understands how to recognize and validate roof system
selection and reward environmental innovation in roofing. An RRP can help analyze the energy and carbon savings by using the RoofPoint Energy and Carbon Calculator, which helps promote life-cycle costs in lieu of the traditional initial-cost basis for roof system selection.

“For over 20 years, I have worked to promote the value of sustainable roof system design and construction with durable, time-tested materials and construction-detail design, delineated graphically for long-term service life, which is the essence of sustainability,” explains Thomas W. Hutchinson, AIA, FRCI, RRC, principal of Hutchinson Design Group Ltd., Barrington, Ill.; a Roofing editorial advisor; and co-chair of CIB W083 Joint Committee on Roofing Materials and Systems, an international committee on sustainable low-slope roof systems. “The RoofPoint program and the RRP designation help me validate to my clients proven design standards and detailing, as well as help ensure my clients are getting the most durable and sustainable roof systems available.”

If you would like to learn more about RoofPoint and the RRP program, please visit the RoofPoint website, RoofPoint.org. It contains the following detailed materials:

▪▪ Information about the function, structure and content of the RoofPoint Guideline.
▪▪ A comprehensive database of all certified RoofPoint projects in North America.
▪▪ Detailed instructions how to become an RRP, including a free copy of the RRP Program Manual and application form.
▪▪ Free online training videos about RoofPoint, including “Introduction to RoofPoint”, “Scoring RoofPoint Projects” and “Submitting RoofPoint Projects”.

The Center encourages all building owners and facility managers to work with RRPs to obtain appropriate, environmentally friendly roof systems.

Roofs, first and foremost, keep water and the elements out of a building. The roofing industry has done this quite well since the modernization of buildings began more than a century ago. Along the way, a number of trade associations—ARMA, ERA, MCA, NRCA, PIMA, SPFA, SPRI—have formed and evolved as materials and trends have changed. Each group provides excellent information relative to its mission and goals. Yet we know change keeps coming.

THE BYRON WHITE COURTHOUSE, DENVER, features a RoofPoint-certified high R-value (R-30) roof for energy savings. A dual-reinforced Derbigum modified bitumen membrane, 90-mil base sheet and a high-density coverboard were installed.

Since the turn of the century, the awareness and push for energy efficiency of buildings and the sustainability for materials and building design has grown substantially and has become an important topic in the public forum. Sustainability and environmentalism are universal topics.

Serving as a unified voice for issues involving roofing, energy and the environment, the Center for Environmental Innovation in Roofing was established in Washington, D.C., in 2008. The non-profit organization’s focus is to advocate and promote the use of environmentally friendly, high-performance roof systems, not just within the U.S., but in North America and globally. The center is a member-based association consisting of roofing manufacturers, roofing contractors, roofing consultants, raw-material suppliers and other trade groups within the roofing industry.

To promote the sustainability of roof systems, the center develops resources, products and educational information that can be used by the building industry to advance the longevity, durability and overall sustainability of roofs. Increased awareness of the importance of a building’s roof is critical to the center’s mission. The roof can be a large contributor to the energy efficiency of the building, a long-term asset and, increasingly, a location for energy production (solar, wind).

ROOFPOINT

The center’s premier program is RoofPoint, a guideline for environmentally innovative nonresidential roofing. RoofPoint is used to evaluate new and replacement roofs for commercial and institutional buildings based on their environmental performance during the life cycle of the building the roof covers. This provides a useful measure for what constitutes a sustainable roof during design, construction, operation and decommissioning.

RoofPoint is primarily a rating system, and when certain minimums are met, a roof can become a RoofPoint Certified roof. Certificates and plaques noting RoofPoint certification can be awarded and used to validate a commitment to sustainability and the environment.

RoofPoint is based on current state-of-the-art processes and methods, remaining technology neutral. It does not rank or prioritize materials or systems; however, RoofPoint emphasizes energy efficiency and long-term performance and durability as overarching key attributes of a sustainable roof. Material recycling and reuse, VOCs, water capture and reuse, hygro-thermal analysis, and operations and maintenance are a few of the categories within RoofPoint.

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January/February 2018

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About Roofing

Roofing is a national publication that unravels, investigates and analyzes how to properly design, install and maintain a roof system. Through the voices of professionals in the field, Roofing’s editorial provides a unique perspective.